Vegans drink plant-based milks made from nuts, grains, legumes, and seeds. The most popular options are soy milk, almond milk, and oat milk, which together account for the vast majority of the plant milk market. But the full range extends to coconut, rice, pea, hemp, cashew, and macadamia milks, each with different nutritional profiles, flavors, and best uses.
The Most Popular Options
Soy milk is the global leader in plant milk sales, valued at roughly $6.8 billion in 2024. It’s popular for good reason: it delivers about 7 grams of protein per cup, which is closer to cow’s milk than any other mainstream plant milk. It’s also one of the most affordable options on the shelf.
Almond milk comes in second, favored for its light, nutty flavor and low calorie count. The trade-off is protein: a cup of traditional almond milk contains just 1 gram. The fats in both soy and almond milk are predominantly the healthy unsaturated kind, at about 2 to 4 grams per cup.
Oat milk has surged in popularity over the past several years and is the fastest-growing segment of the plant milk market. Its creamy texture makes it a go-to for coffee drinks, smoothies, and cereal. It’s made simply by blending oats with water and straining the liquid, which gives it a mild, slightly sweet taste that works as a neutral backdrop in most recipes.
Nut-Based Milks
Beyond almond, you’ll find cashew and macadamia milks in most grocery stores. Cashew milk has a rich, creamy consistency that works well in sauces and soups. Macadamia milk, made by blending soaked macadamia nuts with water, has a buttery flavor that pairs well with coffee. All nut milks tend to be lower in protein than soy, so if you’re relying on your milk for protein, check the label.
Grain and Seed Milks
Rice milk is made from milled brown rice and water. It’s naturally sweeter than most other plant milks and is free of all major allergens, making it a safe choice for people with multiple food sensitivities. The downside is that it’s thin in texture and low in protein.
Hemp milk is made by blending hemp seeds with water. It has a slightly earthy, grassy flavor that takes some getting used to, but it’s a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. Hemp is also one of the more environmentally friendly crops, requiring little water and no pesticides to grow.
Coconut Milk
Coconut milk sold as a beverage (not the thick canned version used in curries) is made by diluting coconut cream with water. It has a distinctly tropical flavor that works well in smoothies, hot chocolate, and recipes with bold flavors like chocolate or chai. It’s higher in saturated fat than other plant milks, so it’s worth factoring into your overall diet if you drink it daily.
Options for Common Allergies
If you’re vegan and also allergic to nuts, your best options are oat milk, rice milk, pea milk, hemp milk, and coconut milk. If you’re allergic to soy on top of that, the same list applies since none of those contain soy.
Pea milk is worth highlighting here. It’s made from pea protein isolate blended with water and sunflower oil, and it delivers a protein content comparable to soy milk without any nuts or gluten. One small caveat: people with legume allergies (to peanuts or lentils, for example) may have a rare cross-sensitivity, though this is uncommon. Rice milk is the most universally tolerated option for people managing multiple allergies.
Which Milk Works Best in Coffee
If you care about how your milk froths, this is where the differences really matter. Soy milk is the best performer for latte art and steaming. Its high protein content lets it aerate well and form a stable microfoam, even at higher temperatures. It steams almost twice as quickly as cow’s milk, and the foam holds its shape long enough to pour detailed designs.
Oat milk is a close second. It performs well across a range of temperatures and produces clean latte art if you pour a bit harder and faster than you would with dairy. Almond milk is trickier: it’s smoothest around 55°C and loses its foam quickly, so you need to pour immediately after steaming. Coconut milk is the most challenging. It’s low in protein, so creating microfoam is difficult, and it tends to sit on top of espresso rather than blending in.
For all plant milks, look for “barista” versions if you’re making espresso drinks at home. These contain stabilizers that prevent the milk from splitting and curdling when it hits the acid in coffee. Standard versions of any plant milk are more likely to separate in hot, acidic drinks.
Choosing the Right One for You
The best vegan milk depends on what you’re using it for. For protein, soy and pea milk are your strongest choices. For coffee, soy or oat milk in a barista blend will give you the closest experience to dairy. For baking and cooking, oat and soy milks work as reliable one-to-one swaps in most recipes because of their neutral flavors and moderate thickness. For the lowest calorie count, almond milk is hard to beat.
Most plant milks are fortified with calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B12 to match what you’d get from cow’s milk, but not all brands fortify equally. Check the nutrition label, especially for calcium and B12, since these are nutrients vegans need to be intentional about. Shake the carton before pouring, too. Fortified nutrients tend to settle at the bottom.